The Scarlet Slytherin
by TidalChanges
Summary: When a potion goes wrong, Aimi escapes one war only to be reborn into the middle of another. This is her story of survival as she fights to get back to her original world.
1. The Boring Prologue of Semi-Importance

**Note from the author:** _The four Slytherin fanfics, despite their name have little to do with the Harry Potter Universe itself and a majority of each fic takes place solely in its cross-over universe.  
_**UPDATE: **_I have combined the first chapters into an easy to skip prologue so people can just head straight to the main story if they wish. Reading through the prologue will help you understand the context of the story but is not necessary. I've chopped out some important events and some interactions which will be explained in lesser detail in the actual story because honestly, this prologue is just a useless bunch of exposition._

Prologue:

**Potion**

Aimi and her friends had a brilliant idea, at a time when the other houses and even teachers glared at Slytherins with obvious distrust. They conceived a powerful potion, a potion that would allow them to travel to any point in time that they wished to shape an ideal future for themselves. Maia and Summer spent hours researching, the ingredients and enchantments they could use, falling behind on their homework to do so, Cadence worked the potion's ingredients, Aimi the enchantment itself, they were certain it would work. They applauded themselves on their potion mastery, and strutted around, proud and smug amongst their hostile peers from other houses. It was when the potion was in its final stages that everything went wrong.

An observant Ravenclaw had cottoned on that the Slytherin students were up to something and let his suspicions slip to a not particularly bright, Gryffindor friend. The Gryffindor acted on these suspicions and discovered the potion. With predictable Gryffindor style he naturally came to the assumption that they were brewing some dastardly poison to use on the teachers or something of the like. If only Aimi knew, she would have been frustrated by the idea as she was a half-blood with a chemistry teacher for a dad, if she wanted to produce a poison, she would prefer a toxic substance such as chlorine gas over any magical counterpart, if for nothing else but to laugh at the confusion that would befall wizards expecting a magical attack. Likewise, if she ever encountered a duel to the death, she would have preferred a gun over a wand but some things were best kept secret from her pureblood friends. At the very least, no one wanted the Death Eaters to know just how good muggles were at killing and torturing each other without the aid of magic. After all what magic muggles lacked they made up for in creativity, after all, the Cruciatus curse got boring fast, when a caster got bored, the curse stopped. When a muggle was bored, they just came up with a brand new way to inflict terrible pain.

Perhaps it was a good thing Aimi had a greater talent for magic then chemistry and knew more about the 1st Wizarding War then the 1st and 2nd World War combined, though to be fair, the Muggle World was a touch more expansive then the Wizarding World for all their enchantments. Such as it was, Aimi was still quite the fan of little enchantments and spells to spice things up, unfortunately, their latest potion was meant to do a whole lot more than just spice things up. It was their chance to stop a war before it started, no one would dare look down on Slytherins again, especially when they themselves stopped Voldermort before his rise back to power.

The potion was in its final stages and the witches were gradually growing tenser with fear that it wouldn't work, when the doors were flung open with an all too deliberate bang, the kind that told you before you startled and spun to look that the banger meant business. The teachers had come, seeking out the truth behind the Gryffindor's accusations. Seeing the steely eyes of Professor Snape, face curled in irritation that the accusations were about to be proved correct, Aimi forgot all about her fears, they were about to lose everything they'd spent the last month working so hard on.

"Now!" she yelled to her friends who were standing frozen like the basilisk itself had come to petrify them, they could not loose here. Aimi dropped her wand and not wasting time to grab the ladle, sunk her head into the still boiling concoction and gulped, she hardly felt the burning but she was dimly aware of someone grasping at her back. She twisted to see who, hoping for her friends but expecting the professors. She saw nothing. Aimi tried to blink, tried to scrub potion out of her eyes, to shake any remnants of the liquid from her, but still no light greeted her. Even as she tried to reach for where her eyes should be, she felt nothing.

She tried to scream, to call for her friends, but could hear no sound, feel no vibration from her throat, the potion hadn't worked, instead of taking her back in time; it'd robbed her of her senses.

In the timeless, senseless void she faded, and as she faded she became aware of another presence, some shred of whatever senses she had possessed remained enough to warn her, the more she let the oblivion gather, the stronger this presence got. It was with the last shreds of her remaining self that she resisted this presence, she would not let herself forget. She clung onto her mantra, over and over she pushed her thoughts out into the void.

_I am Aimi Caulfield, a 6__th__ year student of Hogwarts. I am a halfblood, my father is a Chemistry teacher and my mother is a witch. I am a Slytherin and together with my friends we are going to stop the 2__nd__ Wizarding War and…_

I am Aimi Caulfield, a 6_th__ year student of Hogwarts, I am a halfblood…_

I am Aimi…

The presence took her and she let it, still trying to cling on to everything she was, still trying to fight, but the oblivion that awaited her was inescapable.

**Crying**

_I am Aimi…_

Aimi Uchiha.  
  
The world becomes a hostile place once you've lost acquaintance with it, so when Aimi found herself forced from the void, became aware of lights and sounds she had forgotten existed, all she felt was a terrible fear. She opened her mouth to scream and was shocked when she felt sound leave her throat, she continued on wailing, such a relief it was to finally be able to expel her stress and terror out into the surrounding atmosphere.

Once Aimi started crying, she would not stop, maybe if she'd had her senses back properly, she would have been embarrassed at the way she howled. Instead, crying was her stress relief, a constant reminder to her weak senses that she had escaped the void and a way to vent her distress and irritation as the immature mind of her new body tried to make sense of the memories she had somehow clung too. She was defenceless apart from her wailing, but her carers were kind. There were two of them and at first she resisted them but as time passed she gradually gave into her new self who desperately wanted the warmth of the carers embrace.

As Aimi's mind settled she started to understand her situation, everything that she was and had loved had to be shoved aside in order to make room for her brain's desire now was to learn and motor skills had to be developed, but still she partook in the luxury of crying until her exhausted parents decided something must be wrong and she was taken straight to the hospital to see a healer.

Things were going fine, Aimi wasn't really crying, just whimpering in her mother's arms though she would admit to a tendency to howl aloud if she was jostled or shifted in a way she didn't like, an infant has little to feel pride over but at least she could whine over her loss of dignity without consequence.

The healer that took Aimi was gentle and spoke in a soothing voice to both Aimi and Uruchi, the calming voice was by far preferable to the higher pitched voice other nurses may put on so Aimi rewarded her by not complaining as much as she might have otherwise. That was until the healer's hand started to pulse with a unnatural green light. Something best forgotten stirred, enough for Aimi to know the green light was bad bad bad! With a squeal of outrage at the sudden attack she attempted to hurl her useless body from the healer's grip. Knowing she couldn't hope to escape, she reached out with a scream for her mum, hoping she would be scooped up and they could flee together. Instead she was betrayed, slipping through the grasping hands she smacked down on the cold floor. She lay, a useless, flaccid lump for a stunned moment before patting the cold floor with a chubby hand, that was unexpected.

She hardly got to contemplate the events before she was ungracefully lifted up and returned to the hands with their evil green light. She immediately returned to screaming, she had every right to do so considering that she was being forced against her will into the hands of death. Staring certain death in the face, she gave her all on one last ditch effort and grabbing the wrist of the death hand, bit down with all the strength that could be mustered from jaws bearing a single tooth. The death hand was quickly snatched back only for Aimi to be pushed down onto her stomach. However there was no scorching pain, only a faint warmth and as the nurse shook her head and passed her back to her mother, Aimi let out her first chuckle. The evil green light had failed, messed up memories forgotten, Aimi was invincible!

**Shinobi**

This peace didn't last and the evil green light paled into insignificance, if Aimi had been a normal child, she would have cried even louder at the tension and chaos in her surroundings, but instead, the worse things got, the quieter she became. In her defenceless body, Aimi knew she could not afford to mindlessly draw attention to herself.

Aimi did not remember when or how she learned the truth of her surroundings, rather it was a slow process of understanding that came as gradually and naturally as learning to speak or walk did. She was a 16 year old, who in a failed attempt to escape a brewing wizard war, had been pushed into the body of a child in the middle of a shinobi war. There could be no hope for a quiet childhood here, yet somehow in the confines of her clan, under the warm protection of her parents, that was what she got.

When Aimi was four, there was a clan meeting, this was a fairly common affair but most normally involved just the most influential members of the clan, this one called for nearly all members of the clan, including Aimi's parents, and with her carers going, naturally Aimi had to come too. Teyaki spoiled her dignity as usual by refusing her the luxury of walking, so she squirmed in his arms until he allowed her to scramble up onto his shoulders. Once perched comfortably she grabbed at his short hair and pointed ahead with her free arm, attempting to direct her ride where to go. Trying to diminish her parents own dignity was the least she could do under the circumstances, unfortunately, they never seemed to mind.

As they neared the house of the clan meeting, Teyaki lifted a hand to pat Aimi was the head.  
"Down you get kid, you have the behave here".  
"I'm behaving", Aimi retorted, giving her dad's hair a last protest tug before relinquishing her ride, at least she would be allowed to walk in herself.  
Uruchi took her hand gently and Aimi didn't resist, her mum had warm, dry hands and Aimi couldn't stop her younger self from being slightly intimidated at the prospect of going to a clan meeting. Half those members she had only ever seen from a distance with glinting weapons, blood-stained hands and those perpetual cold eyes.

The room they entered was bland but spacious, everything made out of the same, plain wood. A woman Aimi dimly recognised as the wife of the clan head, bent down to greet her as they entered.  
"Hello Aimi", she had a soft, sweet voice and Aimi appreciated her effort to appear unintimidating amongst the much colder family members so resisted her childish desire to hide behind her mother.  
Uruchi gave Aimi a small nudge forward. "I thought Aimi could play with your son while the meeting is on", she explained.  
Mikoto nodded happily. "That's a great idea, he is just in the other room with Asami"  
Aimi frowned and she pressed cautiously against her mother. She didn't like this tendency of parents to make decisions for her without her input. So what if she was only four, she felt she should still have a day in things directly involving her.

No matter, the adults forced their wisdom on her, that she wasn't to attend the meeting, it wasn't for kids, and was led to a separate room and introduced to Asami and Itachi. The head's three year old son was playing with kunai under Asami's supervision while she read a scroll. With kunai. He twirled the-what should have been heavy blades and was tossing them at a target on the wall. Aimi gave Asami a cautious glare, war or not, the kid was just three. At least, given that all they did was thump against it and fall down, the kunai were blunt.

"Let me try", Aimi didn't wait for an answer before picking up a spare kunai and throwing it at the target, she scowled as it full short.  
"Are you training to be a ninja too?", Asami glanced up from her scroll with a smile.  
"I don't know, I'm only four", Aimi grumbled, picking up another kunai. "I won't go to the Academy until I'm 6". At least, that was the normal age and Aimi didn't think her parents would push her into it any earlier if she didn't want too, she was in no hurry to go out and die on the battle field.  
"Four is young enough to start", Itachi muttered, throwing his kunai, it hit the target directly in the centre.  
Aimi was unconvinced, bodies took time to develop, she knew, she'd done the maths on the long days she had lain in her useless body, hell she still felt her body was pretty useless, the earlier you started the Academy, the earlier you could graduate and go out to die.  
"You can be mature enough to start but you can't speed up aging", she tried to toss the kunai upwards, it felt awkward and uncomfortable in her grip.  
Asami just went back to her reading but she had Itachi's attention.  
"Dad says the sooner you start, the better, the village needs all the help it can get in the war, to stop meaningless deaths".  
"By creating meaningless deaths", Aimi sighed.  
"Do you not want to be a ninja then?" the kid's gaze was pretty blank, he was only 3, he should be all bright eyes and questions. He honestly didn't care about Aimi's plans. Aimi was slightly stumped by the question, she hadn't given it much thought. As much as she didn't want to die in war, she had never considered not becoming a shinobi.  
"I do", Aimi frowned. "I just don't know why yet"  
"To protect the village and make the clan proud", Itachi responded simply. "I'm going to become a chunin as soon as possible"  
She smiled lightly, she had to admire his determination, with a bit more care, she tried aiming the kunai again. "That's a good reason, but I want my own one".  
This time the kunai hit the target, Aimi grinned in satisfaction.  
"If you straightened up your arm when you release the kunai, your aim will be better", Itachi added helpfully.  
Aimi bit back a retort and grabbed the kunai to try again.

The following year, the tension amongst the adults was beginning to relax, Konoha had gained the upper hand in the war and spirits were raised at the hope it would end soon. Aimi still kept close to her parents, unsure of venturing out into a village full of trained killers, not at least until she could protect herself.

**Jutsu**

She rarely crossed paths with Itachi even though they were clan mates of similar age, she spent one day with the quiet boy, looking into the history of their ancestors but the readings disquieted her, she was filled with a strange sense that she didn't belong and did not return to the activity again.

Instead she busied herself with training, since she would be going to the Academy next year. She didn't have Itachi's determination but she assumed, she had inherited her clan's pride, she wanted power and so Teyaki stepped in to help. The most thrilling time was when Teyaki showed her the basics of manipulating chakra. Aimi had always watched with awe as the adults cast strange and wonderful ninjutsu, as much as she hated war and still having no solid answer for why she wanted to become a shinobi she found a wonderful sense of satisfaction in finding her chakra. Unlike holding a kunai, it just felt right.

Controlling it to perform a jutsu was another matter entirely, Teyaki showed her the seals for simple E-rank jutsu but Aimi found she struggled to effectively use the seals. Her chakra would flow out from her centre and just sort of disperse instead of focusing in the seals.  
"Focus on your fingertips", Teyaki suggested patiently.  
Aimi tried again, scowling harder and harder with each failure until Teyaki reached over to rub a finger over her creased brow.  
"Maybe you should take a break"  
Aimi nodded reluctantly but as soon as his back was turned kept trying…still no luck.

With the time for Aimi to enter the Academy getting slowly nearer with still no proof she could use jutsu, Teyaki decided to get her checked, since it'd be unheard of for a Uchiha to fail graduating from the Academy, it was best to find out beforehand if she had a chance of becoming a ninja or not.

"You have unusually large chakra reserves for a future kunoichi and there was no obvious problems with your chakra points so I can only suggest you keep trying" was the prognosis and so Aimi did.

Each day she focused on gathering up her chakra and making the seals without progress, no matter how much chakra she attempted to pump into her fingertips, the energy she gathered would just fizzle out and disperse without taking affect.

"Come on", Aimi yelled in frustration, a luxury she could afford as she'd chosen a quiet spot to work on her usual routine of failure. "Clone Technique", she pointed a desperate finger out in front of her, willing a clone to appear. She was startled by a jolt of energy running from her centre, through her arm and straight out from her fingertip. A waxy clone appeared in front of her, mirroring her startled expression.  
"Eh?", Aimi waved her finger and studied it carefully. "How'd that work"

She had seen her fair share of fights as well as deaths, as much as she tried to avoid it and never had she seen a shinobi who had to point to activate a jutsu, they just made the hand seals and poof, it worked. The thrill of finally doing her first jutsu was completely marred by her confusion, was pointing a cheat method younger kids used until they were proficient enough to use just hand seals. If so, why hadn't Teyaki given her the hint, she'd been struggling for days, she really could have used the help.

To check it wasn't a fluke she pointed another clone into existence, only to discover that unusually large chakra reserves or not, in a young body unused to the work of manipulating chakra, ninjutsu was exhausting.

She must have drifted off to sleep then, on the hard ground of her secluded training spot. She was saved from waking up stiff but her father found her and took her home.  
"I did it", she murmured as he carefully lifted her.  
"Well done, you are a hard worker, you'll make the Uchiha name proud"  
That was laughable, since the Uchiha had always valued natural talent over hard work but at that moment, Aimi didn't care.

**Kyuubi**

Only a few days before Aimi was to officially join the Academy, she was woken from her sleep by her parents hurriedly pulling on their clothes, with despair, Aimi realised it was their shinobi clothes.  
"What happening", she cried, her mind instantly going back to the last time her parents had donned the clothes during the war.  
"Konoha needs our help, don't leave the house", Uruchi explained shortly.  
Aimi scuttled out of bed, grabbing her father's arm.  
"You said you wouldn't fight anymore, what about the bakery"  
"Don't worry Aimi, we'll just help as we can, we might not even fight", Teyaki patted her on the head and Aimi quickly ducked away.  
"We'll tell you what happened when we get back, make sure you stay indoors"  
They had no intention of waiting around, disappearing in moments. Aimi sunk down on bed which now felt cold and unwelcoming. The air felt foul and wrong and as much as Aimi tried to tell herself it was her imagination, she couldn't quite believe it.

**Bakery**

Her parents returned and told Aimi what had taken place, a huge battle had taken place between a giant fox and the fourth Hokage, the Hokage had sacrificed himself for the village and had seal the fox into a child. Aimi's parents had not engaged in the battle, focusing on keeping the civilians safe instead. They promised Aimi they would retire for good and open up a small bakery, right within in the house.

Aimi loved to help out in the bakery, between the Academy and her dad's own training she was kept very busy but she didn't feel like helping out in the bakery was work. She loved the rich smells and the warm, peaceful atmosphere, she could forget all about the harsh world outside its worlds, forget that she was working to be a part of that harsh world.

The bakery was lonely though, since that dark night, the Uchiha's and been pushed to the edge of the village and only other clan members ever brought things, that would have been fine with Aimi actually had friends amongst her clan. The only kids near her age were Itachi and maybe Shisui, but they so far exceeded her in talent and were part of the Anbu before Aimi had even graduated. She never saw either of them enough to really make friends.

In a way, the bakery helped Aimi make connections with her clan, sometimes Itachi would come in with his little brother and she would tease them into talking. Sasuke was a cute little kid but shy and with what seem typical Uchiha style, obsessed with training, not that Aimi could blame the kid, it was clear he looked up to his prodigal brother and idolised him.

In hindsight, Aimi should have known that the peace she felt on those days, was an illusion.


	2. The Chapter Where Everything Starts

The Chapter Where Everything Starts  
(aka. Chapter one)

It was late, the sun had sunk long ago, Aimi was curled up in the corner with a warm drink watching the steady, rhythmical movements as her mother prepared the ingredients for tomorrow morning's fresh baking.  
"Tired yet Aimi?" Uruchi asked lightly as she finished up.  
"Hmm", Aimi stood up slowly and turned off the lights, leaving a dim lamp in the corner – just enough to see by. "Not yet"  
"A good ninja can fall asleep anywhere, on a mission you never know when you'll get a chance to relax, and sleep is important for restoration"  
Aimi snorted softly. "Then they should teach sleep techniques in the Academy"  
Her mother smiled softly. "Some things you have to learn for yourself"  
Aimi responded with a pout and turned to her room which felt decidedly uninviting right now, behind her, there was a dull thud.  
"Mother?" Aimi glanced over her shoulder, a horrible gurgle shuddered through the air between them.  
A shadow flickered and Aimi shrunk back, activating her Sharingan. It was Teyaki, kunai glinting in the dull lamp light as he positioned himself between Aimi and her fallen mother, but he never moved further, instead crumpling silently. With her sharingan, Aimi saw their chakra fluctuate and flicker out.  
Aimi muscles recoiled sharply as the strong urge to flee coursed through her, in the corner of her eye she saw the blank face illuminated by the dull lighting. Darting through her window and patting down on the hungry weeds below she beelined for the bushes, ducking down she desperately tried to dim the clamour of fear and revulsion overwhelming her mind.  
Somewhere, too late, the ninja trained part of her mind told her the bushes were a terrible place to hide, shaking she met the spinning red and black eyes, her muscles numbed against her will, her cries locked in her throat.  
The young, cold face shifted lower to look into hers.  
"If you promise to stay away from Konoha, I can maybe…let you live"  
Aimi's tongue wouldn't work, she was choking on her own fear. How could a kid so close to her in age be so different?  
"The crimes of the Uchiha do not rest on you…"  
"Do you understand?"  
_Of course not!_ Aimi tried a nod.  
"Well, I can always try make you", Itachi didn't move but Aimi was suddenly drowning in a world of red and black.

Red water – no, blood, thick endless blood, she stretched out, trying to grab onto something, anything to pull her away from the red, but every time she stretched out, her hand would meet nothing but a shadow that would writhe and scream as if her touch had caused it great pain. This was the aftermath of a war, twisted and dark, where Aimi's screams were drowned out by the shadows of others. Struggling was futile, she could not fight against something that had already happened, could not soothe the pain of someone who had stopped feeling long ago.  
So the bloody ocean took her into its depths, the shadows writhed into thick black snakes that twined hungrily around her, pulling her deeper and deeper, until the red gave away to all consuming darkness.

And that darkness, the snakes swarmed her, the more she fought the unseen movements, the thicker and stronger they seemed to get, they whispered, screamed and taunted with flickering tongues that burned where they touched her. They squeezed, pulled and nibbled every part of her; they were hell bent on turning her inside out, on ripping her apart, on destroying her.

It was there, driven into the darkest recesses of her mind, that Aimi saw a glint, it looked like no more than the flash of a snake-eye , Aimi remembered another time of darkness and idly compared the horror of the snakes to the void of nothing. The effect this had cascaded through her dark surroundings likes lightening, a crack formed, then another and another. The black snakes shrieked and hissed and sang with a mixture of fear and delight and Aimi's world faded from red and black to bright greens and dull greys and desperate warmth fluttering in her chest.

Aimi warily opened her eyes to Itachi's face, still a perfectly blank canvas.  
"Flee now, don't make me come after you"

Aimi could still feel the delicious warmth thrumming through her, removing her fear, soothing her mind, reminding her of…everything. A laugh bubbled upwards and escaped out her lips, a harsh sound, penetrating the air of the Uchiha grounds, laughter had been rare here before and this may be the last time it was ever heard within sight of these houses. Itachi stepped back as if startled but his face remained perfectly blank.

"What evil did my parents ever wrought", she hissed as she struggled to her feet, the laughter replaced by a void of pain.  
"Their deaths were necessary to prevent war"  
"And mine isn't?"  
Itachi smirked, she could've been a house elf for all she was a threat to him. "It's to show, that sparing Sasuke was not weakness on my part"

Aimi steadied her mind as she focused her thoughts on the little kid, Itachi's brother, they sure had gotten along, hadn't they? "Really? So he's fleeing Konoha too"  
"No", Itachi was moving again, whether it was to flee himself or kill others, Aimi wasn't fool enough to try and stop him but he paused to look at her again. "If you value your life, flee and forget you were ever a Uchiha"  
"Fleeing now", Aimi agreed, since the Uchiha compound had been pushed so far from the centre of the village, it wasn't exactly hard.  
As she moved in the opposite direction of Itachi she noticed the smell of blood and slumped shadows, a small confrontation had happened here and failed, Aimi moved through it without a pause. Even as a child growing up in a time of war, even as a young ninja used to the concept of death and blood, Aimi felt disgust at her calm. She should have been screaming till her throat was raw, should have been begging and pleading for her life and the life of anyone still alive, should have…  
_Forget you were ever a Uchiha  
_Aimi sighed and rubbed her brow, the escape of the forest was not far, she could settle and realign herself to what was going on, the warmth that had filled her, removing the shock of Itachi's jutsu had faded now.  
Out of the corner of her eye, someone moved, a Uchiha managed a short scream before their life was cut short, but the attacker wasn't Itachi. There was someone else.  
_Oh, hello fear. _Aimi's breath stuttered as she darted for the cover of the trees and checking that her chakra was concealed. _Guess it could be worse, could be hiding in the forbidden forest._

* * *

_Short chapter, this rework has mostly been me cutting things out, but it is a huge story which I really want to finish and Aimi before the attack wasn't an exciting character, she fit in perfectly as a Uchiha minus the super ninja skills but that was about it.  
How she got her Sharingan will be addressed later on._


	3. Chapter 2: Broken Mind

_Broken Minds_

Morning came and Aimi was thrumming with energy despite not having slept, perched up in the trees on the edge of the Uchiha Compound she watched as the bodies were carted away, no hesitation from the workers, they didn't even scout around for the perpetrator. Aimi pressed her forehead against the rough bark of the branch she clung too as the familiar figures were efficiently disposed of. That moment of weakness was all it took for the black snakes in their blood-red world to reappear in her mind's eye, attempting to drag her away with their fervent whispers. Whatever Itachi had done to her, whatever crack his jutsu had forced, it had left her feeling distant and confused, and she couldn't afford that right now.

"Last night", Aimi whispered. "Itachi of the Uchiha killed my parents"

Right?

The shinobi finished quickly, one lingered briefly by a little boy crouched in the dirt then darted off, perhaps, Aimi hoped, to hunt down the killer, or at least report to the Hokage.  
If she waited too long, she's loose her chance to return to the village without having to endure too much questioning or worse, but instead she settled for watching the other survivor walk around the compound in dazed circles, Aimi could sympathize with him, but not enough to reveal herself.

Why?

Slowly, careful to not make a sound, she lowered herself from the tree and attempted to stagger back towards the Uchiha Compound, to return to the leaf village, to her genin team, to her life of…  
Aimi stopped, one hand had lifted up as if to grab something, but there was nothing to grab.  
What was she trying to return to do, besides the risk of Itachi coming back to kill her for not staying away as he said, Aimi had only ever been a subpar kunoichi, every mission had been a struggle. Her only joy came from the times she spent in the bakery, Aimi had loved cooking…

Potions?

Sasuke had turned from the path of his dazed wander, looking in her direction, a mixture of fear and desperation in his dark eyes, Aimi stepped back slowly as Sasuke took another step forward.  
"Who's there?" Aimi could admire the steel in his voice, even from this distance she could see his hands shaking, but she couldn't answer, her own voice weighed heavy in her throat.  
If she couldn't trust her memories, what could she trust, she'd lose herself to the void, to the writhing black snakes, to the red eyes that had so quickly shattered everything she knew. So Aimi didn't answer, instead she backed away, until she could see no more of the Uchiha Compound.

When she was sure she was far enough away to be safe from anyone from the leaf village catching sight or sound of her by chance, Aimi threw her arms in the air and let out an excited cry, ending in crazed laughter, accepting back the world lost to her.  
She was still a subpar kunoichi in a world ruled by the best of the best of shinobi, but she had been a bloody good witch. So what if the potion had obviously failed its intended purpose, what it had achieved instead was phenomenal, well beyond her wildest expectations.  
It had taken her into a whole new world! If only her friends could see her now, but as far as Aimi knew, they hadn't had the chance to drink the potion.

Her laughter stopped abruptly, replaced by a deafening silence, the sounds of the forest absorbed by the thick tree trunks around her. What had happened to her friends? Her parents? The brewing war and the return of He Who Must – Bloody hell she had just had her family of 14 years massacred by someone she could almost consider as a childhood friend, what did she have to fear from a murderer beaten by a baby in another world…

Aimi squeezed her head between her hands, as if the pressure would somehow help stop the flood of thoughts through her brain. What if he had won? What if Ami now had a dead family in two worlds? She gripped harder, nails sinking into flesh. She curled over, forehead meeting the dank, mossy ground and screamed. The writhing, clamouring snakes of her mind seemed to slink back as she assaulted the dirt with her voice, exhausted tears leaked from her eyes and she slumped down, not bothering to brush them away.  
"I'm in so much trouble when I get back home", she whispered hoarsely, and giggled.  
What home did she have.

She woke, late afternoon, her stomach growling painfully, Aimi took her time, working each stiff muscle into life bit by bit. She knew what she wanted, regardless of possible, unknown events; she had to try get back to Hogwarts, back to the wizarding world. The only question was how? She took her time to ponder the question but no answer came. She would have to find a solution to her most demanding problem first, and to that, only one place came to mind. Her own house with the little treasured bakery.

She approached the compound, wary that the kid could still be hanging around but it appeared completely deserted, the compound had never been loud or looked full of life exactly, but Aimi couldn't help the chill she felt creeping through the silent houses. She wasn't sure which bothered her more, that these houses had been full of living, breathing people just last night or the absence of the signs of the brutal murder that had taken place. Not one drop of blood marred the ground, not one stone was out of place, no sign of a scuffle could be seen, no sign of a brutal, one sided killing spree, nothing. The massacre clean-up had been meticulous, cautious shinobi or not, it made her uneasy.

As Aimi reached for the door of her house, her heart fluttered and took a shaky breath, she stared frowning at the door handle before backing off. Her mind felt cloudy, through a haze she watched her memories of last night and overlapped them with the memories that'd been ripped out, at least it took the edge off her fear. She walked around the back of the house, taking another good look around for anyone, be they dead or alive, then, with urgent encouragement from her stomach, she jumped through the still open window.

She didn't know what she expected to find, the house was clean, nothing out of place, except that the doors to the bedrooms were firmly closed, Aimi was certain they'd been flung wide and trying the shake the building nerves, she strolled forward and shoved the door to her parent's room open. The sight of the twisted blankets were almost a relief, her parents always made their bed neatly before leaving, that confirmed her memory of Teyaki bursting from the room, he must of leaped out of bed hurriedly. She left the door open, feeling safer knowing no one was hiding behind it and scuttled, quicker now, towards the kitchen, crouching down low so anyone that might enter the bakery, didn't have a chance of seeing her from there.

She gorged herself in the corner, darting up the grab whatever she could reach, there was no shortage of food for one person, but bakery food was not likely to last long without spoiling. Aimi paused her frantic chewing to glance back outside, it would be dark shortly and she did not fancy another night in the trees. Grabbing two nearby sweet rolls she headed back to the door she hadn't opened, and gave it a firm push, the familiarity of her cosy bed and collection of books was comforting and that in itself made her want to back up and flee again. Relaxing felt dangerous but she needed a safe place to think up a plan, with the Uchiha Compound being pushed so far from the rest of the village, she wasn't so worried about catching anyone's attention. It should be fine for a short time at least, to huddle in the house, since a better alternative didn't come to mind she settled on her bed, nibbling on her roll and staring blankly ahead, in front of her, lying on top of a little bookshelf, was her forehead protector.

It bothered her, the shiny little plate, how many times had she happily traced the leaf symbol, or proudly wrapped the black ribbon around her head, what of her genin team, her sensei. Aimi frowned and leaned forward to pick it up, did they think her dead now. Had the shinobi even noticed that Aimi's body was not among the dead, it seemed unlikely with the speed of the clean-up. It hurt in a different way from the fear and despair of before, the idea she would simply be forgotten if she never showed herself. That Aimi Uchiha didn't need to die to stop existing, what that what Itachi wanted? It didn't make any sense.

Frustrated Aimi rose to her feet, taking the forehead protector with her, she headed outside. Night had settled in quickly, the shadows reached out threateningly but Aimi stilled her heart by sheer will, there was nothing to fear at night that wasn't just as terrifying during the day. Ahead of her, a small lake reflected the sky, the water sent rippling from the slight breeze, the crests highlighted by the moon, the dips sunk in shadow. Aimi stared into the depths, felt the pull of gently lapping water, and too them, she sealed her fate. Letting the black ribbon slid from her fingers, she heard the soft splash and noted the distortion of the light reflections, the forehead protector was gone and with that, Aimi accepted she would never return to being a kunoichi of the leaf.****

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This story isn't starting smoothly, I feel I must be disappointing many people given the number of views and lack of feedback - sorry. It's because I've been concentrating only on what happens later on. I've made some pretty big changes, I wanted to give Aimi a character she could interact, bounce off more reliably then the initial, planned interactions. I plan to rewrite the start entirely, but its way to early in the story to plan that right now, so onwards to (hopefully) more exciting things. 


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